Brian Flores – December 14, 2020
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Monday, December 14, 2020
Head Coach Brian Flores
(I’m sure everybody wants to know what’s the latest on TE Mike Gesicki? Is he done for the year? It is possible he might suit up on Sunday? What are the results showing?) – “I think it’s too early to tell. We’re still going through the evaluation process with our medical staff. Too early. I’m not even going to go into how he felt this morning. Obviously I talked to him, but I think it’s too early to tell with Mike (Gesicki), but also some of the other guys who got banged up yesterday.”
(I know you’re not big on individual awards or anything like that, but CB Xavien Howard’s name is going to be mentioned for Defensive Player of the Year. Your name’s been mentioned for Coach of the Year. I’m curious what each of those awards, if anything, would mean to you or him?) – “You said it; I’m not really into individual awards, especially in a team game like this. I think my focus right now is just on this team and helping this team make the corrections and improve on yesterday’s game. Again, individual – my job is about service. It’s about helping these guys get better. That’s where my focus is. ‘X’ (Xavien Howard) has had a great year. He’s played well week after week after week, but he doesn’t do it alone. He’s got teammates – he’ll be the first person to say that. I’m just worried about helping this team get better on a daily basis, on a weekly basis.”
(I wanted to ask you more about the receiver position. I’m curious, with WR Isaiah Ford, is he eligible to practice this week if he passes his COVID tests and if so, what might you look for from him? And second of all, have you given any thought to maybe reaching out to WR Kenny Stills? I know he’s a free agent.) – “The second part of that with (Kenny) Stills; that’s more of a (General Manager) Chris Grier question. He and (Vice President of Football Administration) Brandon (Shore) and (Assistant General Manager) Marvin (Allen), they handle all that and those conversations – they’re obviously internal if and when they happen. Isaiah Ford, obviously he’s got some familiarity and we’ll see how it goes this week. Obviously I have a lot of respect for him and I’m excited to have him back.”
(TE Adam Shaheen obviously signed a contract. You guys showed commitment to him earlier in the year. TE Durham Smythe has had several catches the past few games. What’s the confidence level in the tight end room if TE Mike Gesicki does end up being unavailable, whether it be the next game – and the rest of the guys in that room?) – “I think Adam (Shaheen) and Durham (Smythe) have both played well this year – from a blocking standpoint, from – they’ve been efficient when the ball’s been thrown their way. I have a lot of confidence in both guys, as our entire offensive staff and the team has confidence in both those guys. They end up doing a lot of the, we’ll call it ‘dirty work’ – blocking, pass protecting, chipping and whenever we have, let’s call it ‘tough matchups’ on the outside with the defensive ends. Those guys have done a good job all year and have a lot of confidence in them and we’re going to need them down the stretch.”
(Every team is dealing with injuries at this point in the season. I know “next man up” is always the mantra. How did you feel your team adjusted yesterday and will adjust this week to all the injuries?) – “I think they adjusted well yesterday. We had some young receivers go in there and play well. Same thing defensively – we had guys go down and we needed the next guy to step up and step in and hop into the game. I think it’s been that way for every team the entire year, whether it’s injuries, whether it’s COVID. The teams that are able to adjust the best give themselves the opportunity to continue to play well and it’s a great opportunity for the guys who get to step in. I think everybody wants to play on offense or defense, and when you get your opportunity, try and make the most of it and hopefully earn more snaps with productive play. I think guys like Lynn Bowden and Malcolm Perry have stepped in there. Mack Hollins made some big catches for us down the stretch. We may need it moving forward and we’ll see.”
(Last season you guys won five of the final nine games by using the most players in NFL history. Then this season, yesterday, you were without your top eight players in terms of yards from scrimmage at the end of the game. Is there a common thread about those adjustments? What is it that allows a team to lose so many key parts and keep on producing?) – “I think we just have a bunch of guys who compete. I think (Offensive Coordinator) Chan (Gailey) and the offensive coaching staff and (Defensive Coordinator) Josh (Boyer) and the defensive coaching staff and (Special Teams Coordinator) Danny (Crossman) and the special teams staff, they adjust quickly. I think (Head Athletic Trainer) Kyle (Johnston) does a really good job of getting us the information we need and we adjust and we adjust quickly. I think these are conversations we have throughout the course of the week. We try to be ready for worst case scenarios. ‘If this happens, we’re doing this. If that happens, we’re doing this. If these four or five things happen, we’re going to do this, this, and this.’ At times those become long conversations and things that we need to think through the best – what’s the best thing for our team. I think our staff does a good job of that and it’s not easy. At the end of the day, it comes down to the player – or players, in the case of yesterday – going in and executing. There is an adjustment period. We try to make the best of the situation. Every team deals with it every week or I would say a handful of teams deal with it every single week. We dealt with it before the game with Myles (Gaskin) going on the COVID (list) and then dealt with it in game. Obviously we’ve got to do a better job. It wasn’t good enough yesterday. That’s the goal for this week is to be better and as a staff, put these guys in better position to have success.”
(You know a lot of the coaches on the other side well, and they know you and some of the coaches over here well. How different is it in this week to prepare because of that familiarity from both sides?) – “Are you talking about the Chiefs?”
(No, I’m talking about the Patriots.) – “Oh. I know a bunch of guys at the Chiefs too. Yeah I mean look, this is a division opponent, so we know them, they know us. As far as the personal relationships, obviously there is that in this game as well. But this is the Dolphins against the Patriots. Again, there is definitely familiarity. I think it’s just familiarity that we have with any division opponent. This is a big game this week. Every division game is a big game. We know this team, we know they are tough, they are well-coached, they are competitive, they’ll be ready to go. They’re going to give us their best shot – we know that – in all three phases. They’re going to try to apply pressure in all three phases and it will be a tough, tough competitive hard-fought, 60-minute ball game. That’s just the way it is with that group.”
(I was curious when you watched the tape of the job QB Tua Tagvailoa did yesterday. Some things you think he did right and things he can do better?) – “I thought it was – bringing us back and putting together some touchdown drives there in the fourth quarter, I thought that was good. I thought there were obviously some throws that he could’ve made that he didn’t. I think overall, I thought he played well. I thought he took a step in the right direction against a good defense. I think we just need to continue to take these steps and try to improve and get better.”
(Regarding LB Jerome Baker, what are some of the traits and things he was able to do in yesterday’s game that allowed him to get a 30-yard sack loss and 2.5 sacks total?) – “We were down a couple of (line)backers and he had to play a few different roles yesterday. He stepped up in the pass rush role. I thought he did a good job rushing up the edge, playing off the ball and having coverage. Jerome is a guy who can do a lot of different things. He’s very talented, athletic, he can run, tackles well. He’s also the signal caller. He did a lot for us yesterday. He can do a lot. He’s one of the most versatile players we have. I would say probably a little bit unheralded in some regards. But this is a good player and he means a lot to this team and does a lot for this team. I appreciate the heck out of him. I thought he played well yesterday. Again, we didn’t make enough plays to win. We’ve got to be better. We’ve got to do a better job from a preparation standpoint this week and be ready to play a tough, physical 60-minute ball game against a good team.”
